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When the former co-CEO of BlackBerry — who has been quietly instrumental in Canada’s signature Arctic exploration project — learned on Monday that a remote-controlled submarine had found one of the fabled Franklin ships after 166 years, he was “thrilled.

“The reaction was high fives, and elation, and hugs, and tremendous excitement,” he said on the phone from Ottawa. “And then we went and opened a bottle of champagne. If you can’t justify a bottle of champagne that night, when can you?”

Balsillie, who has been interested in the Franklin story since childhood, long harboured a fascination with the North, visiting the Arctic most summers. But in 2011 he went from tourist to patron, helping found the Arctic Research Foundation (ARF), a body that would provide crucial hardware and leadership in the search for HMS Terror and HMS Erebus.

The R/V Martin Bergmann, a 64-foot research vessel, was the ARF’s main contribution. A retrofitted fishing trawler that the organization bought in 2011, it took part in the perilous expedition through the Victoria Strait, carrying Parks Canada and Navy personnel, and giving them a base from which to conduct searches.

“I’m active in making sure the various parties play together,” he said. “Everybody knew there was a bigger prize if we worked together.”

But, in Balsille’s telling, this was a success born of unusual co-operation between Canada’s philanthropists, its military, its civil service, and its government. “It’s been a real team,” he said.

Parks Canada provided archeological expertise and some important technology, including the autonomous underwater vehicle that found the still-unidentified warship.

The Royal Canadian Navy chipped in with extremely high-resolution sonar. And the Canadian Coast Guard contributed icebreakers that plowed a way for the Bergmann and other research ships. “You need something that breaks you through when you’re getting stuck,” Balsille said. “It’s a big and powerful thing, and crucial for that.”

Finally, he added, Prime Minister Stephen Harper helped build momentum around the project by publicly touting its value, including a mention in the 2013 Throne Speech.

Harper has emphasized the Franklin expedition’s role in asserting Canada’s sovereignty north of the Arctic Circle.

“It wouldn’t happen without the Prime Minister’s leadership,” Balsille said. “He’s the one who compelled the various groups to work together … These different departments respond to direction from the PMO.”

Balsillie said this discovery cements the prime minister’s claim about how this discovery affirms Canadian sovereignty in the North.

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